The RSMC / Tropical Cyclone Centre La Réunion
1/ The RSMC genesis process
- 1986: mission in the region of an Australian expert, consultant for the Secretariat of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), in charge of helping in writing a proposal for the creation of a regional Centre.
- 1987: the 8th session of the Tropical Cyclone Committee (TCC) held in Antananarivo (Madagascar) recommends the creation of a Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) in Saint-Denis/La Réunion, with the assistance of two sub-regional Centres, in Mauritius (Vacoas) and Madagascar (Antananarivo).
- 1988: a small regional expert committee meets in Mauritius in August to confirm the TCC decision and defines the responsibilities to be assigned to the RSMC and the two sub-regional Centres. France formally commits itself to fulfil the 25 obligations needed to become a RSMC. Indian Ocean Commission declares to be in favour of an integrated project for a regional cooperation in meteorology based on a RSMC and wishes a mission to be conducted to assess the needs for observation, telecommunications, computer network and training. This mission takes place between September-October.
- 1989: during the 9th session of the TCC hosted in Harare (Zimbabwe), the creation of a Tropical Cyclone Regional Advisory Centre (TCRAC) based in La Réunion and of two sub-regional Centres for tropical cyclone warning based in Mauritius and Madagascar is decided. However, this decision is not acknowledged by the Regional Association 1 (RA1 - WMO regional authority for Africa) for having not been ratified by the Commission for Basic Systems (CBS)
- December 1990: during its 10th session in Bamako (Mali), the RA1 officially proposes Saint-Denis/La Réunion to be designated to become the future RSMC, provided the Centre of La Réunion proves its capabilities to the CBS.
- October 1991: the 10th session of the TCC in Mahé (Seychelles) acknowledges the appropriate procedure to designate a RSMC and requests the mission of a group of experts to La Réunion (before the next meeting of the CBS) to assess the capabilities of the National Meteorological Service in La Réunion to fulfil the requirements and responsibilities of a RSMC.
- July 1992: the commissionned "expert committee to assess the development of the TCRAC of La Réunion" meets in Saint-Denis/La Réunion. In the detailed accruing, this committee states the Centre in La Réunion satisfies the 25 obligations required to become a RSMC and is therefore qualified to be designated as a RSMC.
- November 92: the 10th session of the CSB in Geneva validates the conclusions of this report and states that at the end of its probationary period, the Centre of La Réunion has demonstrated its capabilities to assume the role and functions of a RSMC/TC. It recommends therefore to the WMO/Executive Council to officially designate the TCRAC La Réunion as a RSMC with tropical cyclone specialization for the South-West Indian Ocean.
- June 1993: during its 45th session, the WMO/Executive Council ratifies this proposition and officially designates the Tropical Cyclones Centre La Réunion as a RSMC/TC for the South-West Indian Ocean, with effect on 1st July 1993.
2/ Role and missions of the RSMC / Tropical Cyclones Centre La Réunion
The Area of Responsibility (AoR) of the RSMC La Réunion includes tropical and subtropical waters of the South-West Indian Ocean encompassed between the equator and 40°S, and from the African coastline (30°E) to the 90°E. To be noted the initial AoR extended between 5°S to 30°S; the current extent dates from 2003.
The primary mission of the RSMC is to provide the 15 members of the Tropical Cyclones Committee for South-West Indian Ocean -depending on the WMO/Regional Association 1 - (Botswana, Comoros, France, Lesotho, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe) with any relevant information (analysis, forecasts, discussions ...) about every tropical (or subtropical) system developing or tracking over its AoR.
The RSMC La Réunion exerts this responsibility in compliance with the "Operational Plan for the Tropical Cyclones in the South-West Indian Ocean", which notably rules the procedures to monitor cyclone activity over the basin.
Furthermore the RSMC La Réunion has been designated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as the Regional Tropical Cyclone Advisory Centre for the African-Indian Ocean (AFI) Region with the role of assisting the Meteorological Watch Offices (MWOs) in the preparation of SIGMET messages for tropical cyclones.
In the framework of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), the RSMC La Réunion - Tropical Cyclone Centre provides special meteorological bulletins for extensive parts of the METAREA VII-OI and METAREA VIII-S areas.
However, beyond its fundamental operational functions, the RSMC has the role to become the regional focus centre for all the other activities conducted in the field of tropical cyclones, particularly for Training and Research/Development.
Since 1998, the RSMC has thus been strengthened with a Cyclone Research Unit, which in particular aims to develop new models dedicated to tropical cyclone forecasting. This Unit closely works with the University of La Réunion.
Moreover, the RSMC plays a key role in the region for training activities. Since 1995, several workshops, courses or seminars dedicated to meteorologists or scientists from the RA1 countries have been organized at La Réunion, in the field of tropical cyclones, forecasting or maintenance of meteorological equipments.